RESTING WHILE WE WAIT

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Oh hello October! Boy am I ever happy to see you. Let's just say we had an INSANE September. James had a couple huge jobs, I finished up work and our church recorded their album (which James was heavily involved with.) All very exciting and fun things but it made for one heck of a month. I honestly feel as if I blinked and October came.

But with it came a deep breath of fresh air. A new season is approaching our family. Usually I want to speed up everything, but right now, I feel like I'm actually enjoying this not here quite yet feeling....it's causing us to actually slow down and rest. 

I'm now on maternity leave for a full year (yay Canada!), James is off until the end of the month and we're officially on baby waiting time. She's due Saturday but honestly, I'll be ok if she comes a little late. Our family needs this slowing down. I'm actually soaking it in.

Soaking in time with Luca, taking him to the park, watching him explore, reading endless stories....soaking in nesting, cleaning our house, getting the nursery finished (it's pretty much there aside from a wall hanging above her crib that I need to decide on)....soaking in reading and a cup of tea, Luca has moved to one 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon and I'm soaking in reading a good book (going through Harry Potter again!) and a cup of tea.....soaking in time with James, we just started This is Us and are beginning to adjust to having evenings together again! 

I just finished the book Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living (I HIGHLY recommend!!!!!) and I feel like I can actually start applying what I learned. I hope to write a more indepth post on that book soon!

What a difference some rest makes. Honestly, if you asked me how I was doing last week or any time in September, chances are I would have started bawling or laughing hysterically. It was just such a crazy pace.

But now it's behind us and now we wait for when baby girl decides to make her appearance. I think God knew we needed a bit of rest before she comes....

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
-Matthew 11:28-30

XO,
Laura

LEARNING TO EMBRACE LIFE'S MESSES

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It's a known face that I've never been a neat freak. My best friend warned my husband in her maid of honour speech on our wedding day, ha.
And with having babies, I think that fact has been a blessing in disguise....(but ask my husband, he may have a different opinion, ha!) 

Honestly, having a clean and tidy home does bring me peace...but if you have kiddos, you know these cute little creatures sure love to do everything in their tiny power to destroy said clean and tidy house.....seriously, how can one tiny creature do so much damage in so little time!?

At first Luca's messes stressed me out like crazy. Food all over the floor, pots and bowls out of every cupboard, toys absolutely everywhere. But I've been learning as a mama (and soon to be mama of 2!!!!) that sometimes you need to embrace life's messes...and be thankful that great cleaning products from The Libman Company exist!

So these days instead of putting everything away as he tornadoes through the toy box, I'm choosing to embrace the mess, to just sit on the floor, play and discover the world with him. It's really so neat to see the world through the eyes of a tiny human.

And the crazy thing is, I'm discovering that he LOVES to clean! (I think he gets that from his dada, ha!) We purchased a Libman broom for him yesterday from Canadian Tire and it's his new favourite toy. It's the cutest thing to see him tottering around the house trying to sweep up messes....but hey at 38 weeks pregnant, I'll take ANY help I can get lols.

P.S. While we were at Canadian Tire we checked out The Libman Company's full line and got hooked on their Wonder Mop ...especially the fact that it's machine washable aka no disposable refil pads!

Also, if you sign up for their newsletter, you get $3 off your purchase!

I'd love to hear from some of you experienced mamas out there...how do you embrace the messes? How do you balance the cleaning AND the enjoying your little one's discovery of the world?

XOXO,
Laura

BABY GIRL MATERNITY PHOTOSHOOT

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A few weeks ago my favourite Victoria photographer Rachael Alexandra took photos of myself and baby girl! My gorgeous maternity dress is from my fave maternity store Pink Blush. Seriously, everything I've received from them has been AMAZING!

We met up just before sunset and caught the tail end of the golden hour. I'm so thrilled with how the photos turned out!

I'm almost 37 weeks and am definitely feeling large and in charge, ha..so it's nice to feel pretty! I almost didn't have a maternity shoot with this pregnancy but I know looking back on it, I would definitely regret it. I want my baby girl to know, although I was feeling verrrry pregnant (re: HUGE), it is still such a precious time that I want to look back on and fondly remember. Thank you Rachael for going above and beyond and making me feel lovely!

Dress- c/o Pink Blush
Faux Fur- Forever 21 (similar)
Leather Jacket- Artizia
 

Still can't believe baby girl is coming SOO SOON!!!!!

XO,
Laura

BOHO BABY GIRL SHOWER

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A couple weeks ago my dear friends threw me the sweetest baby shower! Baby girl and I got mad blessed by our amazing village. Seriously, I have the bestest friends, family and church family!! 

How stunning is that cake!!!!??? Rachel Cakes made it to replica that invite and she absolutely nailed it! It also was waaaay too delicious! If you live in Victoria, I HIGHLY recommend hiring her!
I ordered the shortbread cookies for favours from Cookie For Occasions and they were SO good.
My dress is from Pink Blush. I've gotten so much use out of it and I know I will post baby too as it's set up to be a nursing dress as well! 
I also designed the invite...if you want to order, please contact me!

Huge, huge, huge thanks to Courtney and Rachel for planning such a killer shower. Thanks to my mother in law for hosting!! And all of my girl gang who loved on baby girl and I...she's going to be so blessed to be surrounded by amazing women like yourselves!

XO,
Laura

5 TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL DAY ROAD TRIP WITH A BABY

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Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CanadianTire #QuakerState #CollectiveBias

We happen to live in the most beautiful part of the world (ok, I may be a little bit biased!) But for reals, the West Coast of Canada is crazy beautiful and we're lucky to live a few hours drive from some amazing summer destinations. 

Before we had Luca, we road tripped all the time. We've driven to California a couple times and always loved escaping north to Tofino. A five hour drive was nothing to us. Having a baby complicated things. Especially when you're an A-type/schedule based mama like myself, ha!

But sometimes you need to go off your baby's schedule and create some family memories...am I right!!! The other week we did just that...I suggested to my hubby that we load up our SUV and hit a cute beach town a few hours north of us and he was so game.

Even though everything didn't go as planned (locked keys in the car, baby lost his hat, multiple blowouts, etc, etc) it turned out to be SUCH a fun day and a successful road trip!

Here are 5 tips to plan that successful day road trip with a baby:

1. Be prepared to go off schedule.

Take a deep breath and remind yourself that you probably won't stick to your baby's schedule. If baby doesn't have amazing naps, it's going to be okay. This was a hard one for me as I'm so OCD but honestly, just mentally preparing myself that naps weren't going to be regular, totally chilled me out and made me enjoy the day!

2. Change your car oil with Quaker State® Ultimate Durability™ Full Synthetic Motor Oil.

Having a current oil change is SO important. Quaker State® Ultimate Durability™ Full Synthetic Motor Oil is available at Canadian Tire for such a great price too!

It is so important to make sure your vehicle is good to go...seriously no one wants to waste precious adventure time broken down on the side of the row. Ensure that you buy the correct oil for your vehicle. You can always ask an employee at Canadian Tire to help you out!

3. Load your vehicle with healthy snacks.

A wise mama once told me to always have snacks on hand. And honestly I took her advice to heart. Snacks were given numerous times to avoid meltdowns. Make sure they're healthy and you're good to go!

4. Pack more equipment than you need...because you'll probably need it.

We were heading to the beach so we made sure we packed our shade tent for Luca. Sadly we forgot to pack beach chairs for ourselves! Speaking of beach chairs, Canadian Tire has some seriously cute and practical beach equipment. They totally live up to their tagline: Made for Life in Canada.

Also remember to pack changes of clothes for (baby AND you), more diapers and wipes than you think you'll need, and lots of water. I'm so thankful we had a flat of water bottles in the back because we may have had to use some to wash our hands after changing a blow out in the trunk, ha.

5. Break up the drive with stops.

Little Luca was getting pretty fussy after about an hour on the road. Instead of driving onward with a cranky baby, we stopped at a train museum that was on the way. It turned out to be such a good idea. He was able to run off some energy, ride a choo choo train and then quickly fell asleep as soon as we got back on the road.  

Hope you can use these tips to make some family memories! Happy road trip adventures! You got this mamas!!!

XO,
laura